A
man hijacked a passenger airplane in
Cuba
this week
using two fake hand grenades and ordered it to fly to
Key West
Florida
. It was
the second hijacking from
Cuba
in as
many weeks and spawned an argument between the
US
and Cuban
government.
US
Officials
scolded
Cuba
for
incompetent airport security, and
Cuba
accused
the
US
of being
soft on hijackers.
Miami
FBI chief Hector Pesquera said in a news conference that the man faces 20 years
in federal prison.
Adermis
Wilson Gonzalez, 33, boarded the plane with his wife and son and landed in
Havana
Monday
night. The plane was refueled and Cuban government officials held negotiations
with the man that eventually led to the release of 20 passengers and the
delivery of three white packages to the plane.
It
took flight again Tuesday morning and headed to
Florida
.
U.S.
fighter
jets held defensive positions, but the plane and all 32 people still on board
landed safely.
Key West
International
Airport
was
evacuated.
Wilson
was the
first off the plane, carrying his son and wearing a red jacket with "
America
"
stitched on the back. The fake grenades were removed from his pockets, and he
was arrested. The other passengers were processed by federal agents, but some
asked to be allowed to stay in the
United
States
.
Responding
to the question of
US
immigration policy being to blame for such incidents, Philip Reeker, a State
Department spokesman, said it is not
US
law that
encourages Cubans to flee their country.
"Our
policy, again, is that Cubans should arrive here only through safe, legal and
orderly means. So I think it is, again, Cuba that needs to examine the way they
treat their people, the way they have for decades, and why their people are so
eager to flee their country and seek better opportunities elsewhere, including
the United States.